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Herpes Gladiatorum, Sports Medicine

Stephen Shaheen, MD, CAQSM Reviewed 04/2019
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

Variant of cutaneous herpes disease caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2) occurring among wrestlers and transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact 

EPIDEMIOLOGY

DIAGNOSIS

HISTORY

  • Initial versus recurrent eruption

  • Similar location as previous infection

  • Previous treatment and length of infection

  • History of recent stressors (e.g., school, sleep, weight loss, emotion...

TREATMENT

  • Initial infection:

    • Started early in the clinical course, during vesicle formation, oral antiviral medications can arrest viral replication and shorten the duration of infection 2.

    • Acyclovir 20...

REFERENCES

1
Wilson EK, deWeber K, Berry JW, et al. Cutaneous infections in wrestlers. Sports Health.  2013;5(5):423–437.
2
Anderson BJ, McGuire DP, Reed M, et al. Prophylactic valacyclovir to preve...

ADDITIONAL READING

  • Anderson BJ. The effectiveness of valacyclovir in preventing reactivation of herpes gladiatorum in wrestlers. Clin J Sport Med.  1999;9(2):86–90.

  • Anderson BJ. The epidemiology a...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Return to play: National Federation of State High School Associations Sports Medicine Advisory Committee guidelines:

    • Herpetic lesions (simplex, fever blisters/cold sores, zoster, gladia...

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